Henderson sought to purchase property about a mile north of the present town from Henry Mabry, but they could not agree on the price.

A 1901 picture of Louisiana Street includes the depot, and a c. 1905 interior photograph shows the agent and several local citizens.

Restored, today the station is operated as the Depot Museum, displaying a collection of Bernice memorabilia.

The first store was in a tent and run by a man named Nelson, and the next was a mercantile business in a box car, operated by Will Martin.

A saloon and pool hall were among the early businesses, and it was not unusual to see a fight among lumbermen on Saturday afternoons in the middle of the red dirt main street under the sycamore trees.

In the early part of the century, the Bernice and Northwestern Railroad Company, also known as "the dummy line", headed northwesterly toward Summerfield to haul in the logs from the lumber camps along the way.

Although Bernice has changed from its rough and tumble early days, it still has a sawmill and a chip mill operating.

The town also has a hospital, a nursing home, a volunteer fire department, several churches, and numerous small businesses.